


Frostbitten Scales

by LiterallyThePresident



Category: Matantei Loki Ragnarok | Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok
Genre: Fenrir secretly loves his brother and I will die on this hill, Hurt/Comfort, If I was the size of maybe a building, I’d bully him too, Loki is a father and I am painfully aware of that at all times, Mayura misunderstands so much but in fun ways, Yamino feels, Yamino is cold-blooded, and my baby brother grew big enough to encircle the planet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:40:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27992412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiterallyThePresident/pseuds/LiterallyThePresident
Summary: Yamino didn’t do well in the cold
Relationships: Daidouji Mayura & Yamino Ryuusuke, Loki & Yamino Ryuusuke, Yamino Ryuusuke & Fenrir
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	Frostbitten Scales

**Author's Note:**

> Old fandom, let’s see who’s still alive

Yamino’s apparent cold-bloodedness would be adorable if it weren’t so concerning.

Mayura had spent enough time at the Enjaku Detective Agency to figure out that Yamino did  _ not _ take well to the cold. When summertime drew to a close and the wind grew steadily more biting, he slowly but surely grew lethargic and drowsy, going to sleep earlier and waking later, listlessly drifting to sleep in odd locations like a narcoleptic. He still cleaned and cooked and did all of the chores he loved so much, but there was a languidness to his actions, a sluggishness to his usual snakelike grace. Loki assured Mayura that it was normal, that Yamino simply had a seasonal illness that left him vulnerable to the cold, and that she shouldn’t worry. 

Unfortunately for them, she did worry. Constantly. 

Learning this new bit of knowledge had distressed Mayura immensely, and she’d immediately bolted to the store and purchased as many heating pads and thermal pajamas as she could, unwilling to let poor Yamino suffer when she could help, remembering with an ache in her heart the way her mother had shivered on her hospital bed near the end. When she’d swung by before school to deliver them, asking (demanding) Yamino make use of them, he had smiled so gently at her, thanking her with genuine gratitude in his eyes. She’d been thrilled to see him press one of the heating pads to his chest, melting into the heat with a sigh of utter relief that tugged at her heart.

“You’ve saved my skin, Mayura.” he’d murmured with a blissful smile, “Let me make you some hot soup for the road.”

She never really saw Yamino leave the house in the colder months unless it was absolutely necessary, and the one time he did, he’d gone missing for hours. Loki and Mayura had all but abandoned the case to run around the town like chickens with their heads cut off, searching and searching until a strained Narugami had carried Yamino’s freezing, hypothermic form to them. Mayura, near hysterical at that point, had thought for one horrible moment that he was  _ dead _ with how white and still he was, his chest barely rising and falling as thin breaths passed through blue-tinged lips. 

“Stop letting your little serpent out in the cold.” Narugami had growled at Loki, protective and tense, almost accusing as he held that pale body close, as if to say  _ how could you let him out of your sight, _ “He could have died, and that can’t happen until I kill him myself.”

_ He could have died. _ The words had rung through Mayura’s ears as Yamino had been rushed to the warmth of their home and surrounded with a veritable army of hot water bottles and heat lamps that Loki just... had available, making Mayura wonder if this had happened before. The look on Loki’s face, rigid and stony, eyes flinty and strained with a worry too intense for just master and servant, told her that it had.

Yanino had recovered within the day, but Mayura hadn’t been able to easily forget the moment she’d thought her friend was dead. Little serpent, Narugami had called him, and it was surprisingly fitting. Yamino was graceful and quick with a decidedly serpentine air to his movements, his hair always smelled like sea salt and brine, and when he focused on something, he  _ focused, _ his eyes intent and fixed in a way that made the object of said focus feel like a mouse caught in the gaze of a viper. He absolutely brought to mind the deadly prowess of a snake, if one knew how to look, and his inability to bear the cold only added fuel to the metaphor. It didn’t help that she swore she once saw him hiss at Fenrir, actually  _ hiss, _ for trying to sneak food.

Fenrir worried too, she could tell. Autumn and winter were the only times she saw the little dog be kind to Yamino. The puppy actually seemed worried when Yamino stayed in bed long into the morning, pawing at his door and howling like a bereft toddler, squirming and whining when anyone tried to move him. Yamino joked that he only missed his cooking, but the amused twinkle in Loki’s eyes told a different story. 

Today Fenrir was nowhere in sight when Mayura approached Yamino’s room with her bag of presents, which meant he was either panting after Loki or resting with Yamino. She entered his room without guilt, the unlocked door a clear invitation, and her guess was confirmed by the sight of Yamino curled up under a copious amount of blankets, pale and listless, his face slack with sleep and Fenrir held loosely in his arms. It looked like he had collapsed into bed without grabbing a heating pad, the puppy his only source of heat, and Mayura’s worry rose significantly as she sat on the bed beside him, the man not stirring even slightly at her arrival. Fenrir was whining softly, nuzzling Yamino’s face and curling against his chest as if to try and warm him. The little puppy usually seemed pretty ambivalent towards Yamino, either ignoring him or yapping angrily at him depending on how much attention Loki was paying to him, but it was during these difficult months when Fenrir showed his care. 

“Are you worried about Yamino too?” she murmured softly, reaching out to scritch his ears. Fenrir whined, pressing closer to Yamino as if the power of his tiny little body could drive the chill from his body. Loki always joked that Fenrir saw Yamino as his little brother, and Mayura could totally see it. The puppy bullied Yamino relentlessly, stealing his food and nipping at his ankles and growling at him for the littlest offenses, but also snarling at people who pushed into Yamino’s space, yipping angrily at anyone who said an unkind word about his cooking, and trying valiantly to keep him warm when the weather turned cold. 

“Oh puppy.” she murmured, “He’ll be okay. We’ll look after him.” He only whined again, seeming content to ignore her in favor of butting his head against Yamino’s face, and she could respect that. She busied herself tucking him in, laying a hand across his forehead and frowning at the chill of his skin. She often wondered if this man was even capable of generating his own body heat, his skin only ever seeming room temperature to her. Another tally for the reptilian metaphor, she supposed. 

“He’s so cold.” she murmured, and Fenrir whined again, “Should we take him to a hospital one of these days? Has he been to one? Maybe they could explain why he’s always so cold-“

“Mayura?” and then Loki was at the door, seeming surprised to see her here, “What are you doing in Yamino’s room?”

“Ah, I brought presents!” she smiled brightly, holding up the bag, “Yamino needs to be lectured, he should be bringing some heating pads or heat lamps or something to bed when it’s this cold. As sweet and cute as Fenrir is, he alone can’t keep a person warm.”

“You make a good point.” Loki laughed softly, trotting in and hopping up onto the bed on Yamino’s other side, “Has he woken at all?”

“Not since I got here a few minutes ago.” she sighed, “Hasn’t even stirred. Should we be worried?”

“No.” he smiled reassuringly at her, “I’ll let you know when we should be worried. He’s a resilient guy, tougher than he looks. You don’t have to worry about a thing.”

“If you say so.” he mumbled, reaching out to lay a hand across Yamino’s clammy forehead. At her touch, he finally stirred, his eyes slitting open slightly as he leaned unconsciously into the warmth of her hand. 

“Mn...” he mumbled sleepily, “Father...?” Mayura blinked, but Loki spoke before she could say anything, his face tightening with an expression she couldn’t decipher, and she vowed to ask about Yamino’s dad later, when he was better. 

“Easy, Yamino.” Loki murmured, reaching out to stroke the soft hair, mussed with sleep and down from its trademark ponytail, “It’s me, and Fenrir and Mayura are here too.” Fenrir yipped his agreement, licking Yamino’s face adorably. 

“Bi... Miss Mayura?” he asked sleepily, sentence broken up by a yawn, “Ah... How rude of me... Let me make you some breakfast...”

“Don’t worry about that, you need rest.” she chided, grabbing a thermal blanket from the bag and draping it over him, tucking him in just like her dad used to, “Besides, it’s well into the afternoon.”

“Is it...?” he mumbled, his eyes lidded and hazy, his pupils looking almost slitted in the dim light of the room, “My apologies, I...”

“You can keep sleeping, Yamino.” she smiled, “We can take care of ourselves for a day or two, don’t you worry!”

“The Mayura Home Care Agency is on the case.” Loki laughed, earning them a small but genuine smile from Yamino, “Speaking of which. Mayura, would you be willing to go downstairs and grab the hot chocolate? I think it will help all of us.”

“Good idea!” she gasped, leaping up with excitement and dashing out the door. Halfway down the stairs, she came to a halt as she realized with a sheepish whine that she’d forgotten to ask what kind, and padded glumly back upstairs. She approached the door to Yamino’s room, only to pause as she heard voices conversing softly inside. Respect for her friends’ privacy warred with burning curiosity, but eventually curiosity won out, and she stopped to listen. 

“S’cold, Father.” Yamino’s quiet voice was so soft she had to strain to hear it, the man clearly drifting back to sleep, “Like the sea...”

“You are far from the sea.” Loki’s answer was soft, yet held a steel underneath that made him sound so much older than he was, “And I will  _ never _ let them send you back there. If they want you, or any of your siblings, they will have to go through  _ me.” _ Fenrir yipped loudly, as if to announce agreement, and there was a moment of silence in the room, the declaration hanging in the air like a promise. Mayura felt an odd mix of grief and fury whirling in her chest, protectiveness rising in her like the moon at the thought that someone had hurt Yamino in the past, that someone had traumatized him enough that even now he feared for himself and for whatever siblings he had. 

_ It’s because of Master Loki that I am able to do things like cook and clean, _ he’d once said to her,  _ and I am forever grateful.  _ She hadn’t thought much of it then, but now the words clanged against her skull like a hammer, and she felt a new resolve burn in her at the very idea of her sweet gentle friend having a tragic past.

No one hurt her friends. No one made her friends afraid, they were  _ hers. _ If anyone tried to come for Yamino, Loki wasn’t the only stalwart protector they’d have to get through. They’d have to deal with Mayura Daidouji, and she’d not be an easy opponent to beat!

“Thank you both.” Yamino’s quietly grateful voice broke her from her righteous thoughts, sounding sincere even through his yawn, “I’m really... very lucky...”

“Sleep, my Miðgarðsormr.” Loki murmured, sounding so fond and so loving it brought tears to Mayura’s eyes, “Father and Big Brother are with you. Spring will arrive soon, and it will be warm again” The name he called Yamino was unfamiliar, likely in the same foreign language Loki’s name came from, the language he and that Kasumi kid occasionally exchanged heated words in, but he spoke it with such undeniable love that she was reminded of her father on his best days. It must be an inside joke, she decided as she guiltily knocked to ask what kind of hot chocolate they wanted. Loki smiled at her, and as far as she could tell he was unaware of her eavesdropping, his hand absently stroking Yamino’s hair as the man was once again set adrift on the sea of dreams. 

She’d google whatever that word was later. For now, she was going to treat her friends to hot chocolate.

**Author's Note:**

> Recently rewatched this anime, Heimdall used to be my fav but god my high school self was sleeping on my boy Yamino


End file.
